


Alibi

by Valaks



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Alex Just Wants to Fit In, Angst, Ben is a Bro, Betrayal, But He’s More Killer Than Kid Now, Everyone agrees, Nothing Good Ever Happens on a Zoom Call, Post Crocodile Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valaks/pseuds/Valaks
Summary: After a year in the field, being a teen seems to be the only cover Alex Rider can’t maintain. As he struggles for normalcy, a flippant comment on a zoom call makes him a suspect in a murder investigation and he finds himself dragged back into the life that no one seems ready to let him leave behind. Post Crocodile Tears [Spyfest 2020 Week 2 Co-Winner]
Comments: 8
Kudos: 186
Collections: Spyfest 2020





	Alibi

**Prompt: Quarantined and bored. A deadly combination**

  
  


The second worst day of Alex Rider’s life started very similar to the first - Jack frantically shaking him awake to tell him the police were here. This time they had the courtesy to wait until 11AM to ruin his life. 

8 hours. 

It was progress, he thought bitterly as he hurriedly pulled on a clean set of clothes - jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He had been forced to give up on short sleeves after McCain. Not that it mattered since he had actually been allowed to recover in the relative peace of his own home. McCain’s plague had failed but a new virus had taken the world by storm. Alex wasn’t entirely convinced it was natural, given what he had seen over the last year. It seemed someone had dropped the ball somewhere but that wasn’t his life anymore. He was no longer a spy. He was a schoolboy. He spent his days in video lessons and in Zoom calls desperately trying to make his friends back. Which didn’t leave a lot of options as to why the police were here.

Jack was safe. They wouldn’t come round if it had been Tom. MI6 might, since it would likely be his fault, but they wouldn’t disguise themselves as police. Not when Jack knew about them. So they were actual police but why? Maybe someone had decided to take the rumors at school seriously? But Tom had told him they had died down since he had been regularly attending for almost a whole month now. 

That was the longest break he’d had in the year he’d been forced to work for them. Maybe these officers were Blunt’s way of hauling him back in without giving Alex or Jack the chance to fight it? Despite Blunt’s promise he didn’t dare hope that MI6 had forgotten about him. Maybe spying had slowed down during quarantine too? More likely the idea of getting a child anywhere across a national border right now would trigger more suspicion than it was worth. He couldn’t rule it out though. Especially after last night.

Maybe that was it? Was it because he had broken quarantine? They wouldn’t send officer for that. If he had been caught they would have dealt with it then. What was it then?

He gave up on looking for his mask, the police had come to his house, they could deal with it. He stumbled downstairs, doing his best to present the image of a normal, carefree teen. The air in the living room was charged with tension, two masked officers were sitting across from an obviously angry and frustrated Jack. He couldn’t see much to gauge their mood but their eyes gave them away - they were sizing him up just as he was doing to them. They thought he was going to run. Which meant this was serious.

“Alex Rider?” The female officer asked. 

Jack’s frown deepened. She had already said as much and obviously found their confirmation annoying. 

How to respond? Too respectful and they would get suspicious. Too disrespectful, the same. Normal teenager, a little surly about being woken up. He could do that. “Yeah?” 

“Why don’t you take a seat, we have a few questions.”

“What about?” He sat heavily on the couch, a picture of teenage abandon with just the slightest twitch of tension. Not enough to scream guilty but enough to be normal in a kid wary of why the police had come calling. This might be his easiest cover yet if he wasn’t desperately trying to figure out why they were here. Not facing certain death likely helped. 

“Where were you last night?”

His heart skipped a beat. Why were they asking about that? He hadn’t done anything illegal but if they knew what he had been doing odds are they wouldn’t ask. It was something else then. He had a solid alibi, he had avoided the CCTV cameras but hiding from them completely was impossible so they could probably verify where he was. His avoidance would be suspicious, MI6 would likely have to get involved and they would  _ definitely  _ be interested in why Alex Rider was chasing a hauntingly familiar figure through London in the dead of night. An honest answer would not help. 

“I was here.”

“You slept late for someone who was home all night.” 

“I’m a teenager.” He rolled his eyes

“Can anyone confirm you were here?”

Jack. But she hadn’t seen him, mostly because he hadn’t  _ been _ here. 

“Jack was here with me.”

“She says you were in your room and didn’t see you after 10. Is there anyone else who can confirm where you were?” Definitely serious then. He needed to lie and it needed to be convincing, something he could back up.

“Yeah, I was on Zoom with one of my mates til 3.” Jack’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Leaving out details was the clear sign of a lie. If she had learned nothing else from 7 years of raising him it was that. But he couldn’t say Tom because he didn’t know why they were here. Whatever it was, it was clearly not good and she was not helping his case. Time to fix that. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned to her “I know you said to stay away from Blunt but he’s really not that bad.” He was. But it would give her a name and a reason for his secrecy. He could deal with the rest later. 

“Blunt?” One of the officers leaned forward with interest. Obviously unaware of MI6. Good. He may actually make it out of whatever this was. 

“Nickname.” Alex huffed. “He’s not particularly bright.” 

“Which is why I told you to stay away from him.” Jack sighed. Much better, he mentally praised. She had relaxed slightly at the words, she didn’t like the idea of him interacting with MI6 but it was better than whatever these officers were here for. 

“Can this...Blunt confirm your story?”

“Yeah” Given a few minutes alone with his phone and he could easily make that happen. Faking a Zoom call wasn’t exactly rocket science and he had already installed remote access for this very reason. Had Jack given him more of a heads up it would already be done. “What’s this all about anyway?”

The officers shared a look but obviously decided to take his word so far “One of your teachers, Mr. Collier, was killed in a burglary last night.” 

Fuck. 

He knew what this was about then. 

The good news was he hadn’t done it. The bad news was it was going to be difficult to prove that given the evidence they obviously had. Alex hadn’t done himself any favors, there.

“How does that have anything to do with Alex?”

“Because yesterday Alex told his friends that was how he would kill him.”

Jack froze, staring at him in horror. “What...what do you mean?”

One of the officers pulled out a phone and after tapping the screen a few times, handed it to Jack. It was the Zoom call. Just a bunch of bored kids talking. No different than any other teen in quarantine, except it was Alex and things could never be easy. 

“...fucking hate Collier. I’m so sick of his shite. He’s such an ass.”

“He doesn’t take it out on you half as bad as Alex. If anyone has a reason to go for Collier it’s him.” Tom laughed and Alex felt just as uncomfortable now as when he had said it the first time. Tom was a completely different person around his other friends and watching the video made it even more pronounced. After SCORPIA Tom should have known better than to joke about Alex taking anyone out. Alone he would have never said it, to fit in with the other boys on the team it would be a funny joke. 

“Wouldn’t want Rider after me if I was him, not with his friends.” Video Alex rolled his eyes at the insinuation.  _ A safe response. A teenage response _ he could practically hear his own thoughts at the time “Rider you’ve got guns right?”

“No. My uncle used to shoot but he didn’t own any that I know of.” Lie.

“And how’re you gonna shoot him? We’re all locked up inside.” Another boy chimed in

Video Alex stilled and he knew what was going through his head at the time. He had been weighing whether or not to play along. He had already walked through how he would do it the moment the other boy brought up the problem with killing someone during quarantine. He hadn’t been with SCORPIA long, but it had been long enough to learn how to plan a hit. Alex had this one planned in less than five seconds. Less instinctual was how to interact with his peers. The thought had sickened him at the time. In the face of reality it was worse. He may no longer work for SCORPIA but he still thought like a killer far more than he thought like a kid.

Video Alex’s tension had resolved, he had made up his mind and he mentally wanted to warn himself not to say anything but it was too late. They wouldn’t be here if Alex hadn’t tried so hard to fit in and failed so spectacularly at it. “You’d be better off staging a burglary with everyone in quarantine.”

“Good point, if he won’t come to you then you go to him…” the phone was withdrawn and Jack looked at him like he was a different person. She shouldn’t be surprised. He had told her about Malogosto. She knew he had gone to Jones’ flat with every intention of killing her. Jack may not like to think about it, but she was aware of what he was capable of and that thought was probably running through her head right now. 

Where there had once been certainty there was now a seed of doubt and that  _ hurt _ .

It was only a joke, surely she saw that? He hadn’t even said he wanted to do anything to Collier just made a comment on what the best way to do it would be. The other guys had been the ones talking about shooting him, that was worse, right? Alex knew that if one of them had said it, nothing would have come about it other than some awkward questions within the group. But it was Alex on a call with a bunch of schoolmates who thought he was a druggy with the connections to do it.

And Tom.

Tom who knew he  _ wasn’t _ a druggy but knew he had the training to do something like that. 

Tom whose icon had been in the corner.

He didn’t have time to think about that right now. 

How to proceed - too casual about it and he would be hauled off, too weepy the same. Shock. Shock would be best. He could sell that mainly because he felt it. His teacher had been murdered the night after he had suggested how to do it. It was too coincidental.  _ Someone  _ had been listening. And after the chase last night he was afraid he might know who and if he was right it was more than enough reason to be in shock.

“I...he wasn’t the nicest to me. That’s why we were talking about it but...I wouldn’t...he was still a good man. He was a veteran, he served in Afghanistan, he was in the paras just like Dad.” And let them chew on that - how could a 15 year old take out a fully trained army veteran. The logic and his reaction were relaxing them. His statement had been coincidental but he was just a kid and he had an alibi even if they hadn’t confirmed it yet and he seemed sincere enough. “I was...it was a bit of fun. I wouldn’t actually…” he stared blankly at his hands.

“Alex, this is why you shouldn’t joke about these kind of things.” The female officer said softly. She had bought his act. 

He nodded shakily “I’m sorry...I didn’t…”

The other officer seemed to have relaxed too. “Kids do these things all the time. We’ll just need to take a look around.” He assured Jack who turned to Alex, studying him then nodded. She must still believe him too, at least a little. He could work with that. Almost home free. Just one more thing. 

“Can I...I feel sick.” He was already moving to the bathroom before the officers could stop him.  _ Don’t put your hand over your mouth it’s too obvious. A hand over the stomach will convince them so long as you move urgently. _ Ian had once taught him when he wanted Alex to hide in the bathroom in a crowded restaurant in Spain. He put the lesson to good use now. He shut the door and hurriedly opened the cabinets, grabbing the toothbrush they kept down here for guests. He slammed the toilet seat up at the same time he opened the box and jammed the toothbrush down his throat. Letting his gag reflex do the rest of the work. 

There wasn’t much so he could still hear the “Poor dear” from outside the door.

He took out his phone and got to work creating the fake log. Occasionally dry heaving to buy time. 2 minutes later he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He wasn’t done yet. He needed more time.

“Yeah?” He said weakly, hurriedly stowing his phone and hiding the toothbrush and box behind the toilet before cracking the door open. Jack was there with a glass of water. There was sympathy on her face which meant she bought his reaction but he knew they would have a long talk after this and honestly if that’s all he had to deal with then he was okay with it. 

“Thanks.” He said, taking the cup, throat raw from acid. Then made another grab at his stomach and closed the door. 

Another dry heave and he had his phone back out.

He emerged a minute or two later, doing his best to look shaky and wrung out.

Both officers were back. His laptop was sitting in front of them. 

They hadn’t found anything. He knew they wouldn’t. Show them the laptop. Give them the number to his MI6 burner, deal with Jack and he could put all of this behind him.

“Feeling better?” 

“Honestly? No.” He said softly and started the laptop before they could even ask. 

Both officers nodded. Not even a trace of doubt left. 

They hadn’t stood a chance. 

“And what was this ‘Blunt’s’ name?”

He was tempted to use Tom’s name but didn’t want to take the chance if they were already at his house. “James Sprintz.” They might call, just to double check but they wouldn’t look him up and if they did they would find an out of control rich boy. It would make sense and they wouldn’t look any further into it.

“Can we have his number?” 

“Sure...just...let me.” He finished typing then put the laptop on the table for them to see the Skype log and pulled out his phone. They barely glanced at the log, just snapped a quick photo.

“When you’re ready” he prompted, the officer nodded and he rattled off the number he already had memorized. 

Investigation obviously satisfied, they stood “Thank you for your time, Ms. Starbright. I’m sorry this visit was necessary but we had to be sure.”

“Of course.” 

“I hope you learned something from this Mr. Rider.” The man cautioned. 

“Yeah,” he nodded weakly. “I’m sorry.”

“We all make mistakes, kid. It’s how we react to them that defines us. Learn from it, yeah?” He’d probably rehearsed that line a few thousand times.

“Yeah” Alex nodded and Jack shepherded them toward the door. He let out a slow breath the moment they left the room but quickly regretted it when the doorbell rang. 

“Ms. Starbright, Ben Daniels from Peterson and Taylor. I’m so sorry I’m late.” 

Of course things couldn’t be easy.

Ben. He liked him but if he was honest he had hoped to never hear from him again for this exact reason. He did not want MI6 back in his life and Ben’s presence could only mean one thing. 

“No problem, Mr. Daniels. The officers were just leaving.”

“You questioned him without counsel.” He said sharply. 

An act, Alex catalogued 

“Ms. Starbright gave her consent. There won’t be need for anything further. Mr. Rider made a mistake but there is no evidence to support he was behind this.”

That would mean nothing to Ben. Even from their brief encounter he knew roughly what Alex was capable of and for the Bank to have sent him they might suspect as much too. Unless they were here about his walk about last night which might be worse, honestly.

The officers must have left because Ben and Jack were in the living room a moment later. She shot him a helpless look. That confirmed his fears - Jack hadn’t called them which meant that they had found out from the police records. They were still watching. 

“You’re looking better.” he greeted and it was true, Ben looked healthier than the last he saw him, given he had just been shot at the time it wasn’t hard to improve on. His heart gave a guilty surge when he saw how gingerly the man was holding the arm.

“You’re not exactly a picture yourself.” He knew he wasn’t. The burns were still healing. They weren’t too obvious right now unless you were looking closely. Ben was a spy. That was his job.

“You know him?” Jack seemed to relax slightly.

“We worked together in Australia.”

“You’re the one who shot his godfather.” She said in recognition and Alex winced. Of all the things he had told her about the mission  _ that’s  _ the one she latched onto?

“I...what?” He rounded on Alex 

“It doesn’t matter, he killed my parents.” He shrugged off the man’s concern. “Did me a favor, really.” 

“Tea?” Jack offered, derailing that awkward conversation. He sent her a grateful look. 

“No, thank you.” He smiled “Alex and I need to get down to the Bank so we can clear this up.”

“Why do you need him? They just said that it wasn’t him and he was just there last night. He probably wouldn’t be tangled up in this if it wasn’t for you people.” 

Ben shot him a look. Not good. “We need to confirm the story he told them so we can cover for him.”

“Can’t you do that here?” She pleaded 

“I wish, but our tech people will need to be involved and they’ll need Alex’s voice for his cover” 

Smithers could do that in his sleep, he wanted to protest but he wasn’t getting out of this. The least he could do was try to calm down Jack. “Faking a 5 hour call is gonna take a while, Jack. I’ll be back for dinner.” 

She shot Ben a harsh look 

“He will, I’ll make sure of it.” The older spy said with a slight bit of amusement. Alex just headed for the hall, Ben at his heels. 

As he was leaving he heard Jack sigh tiredly and felt a surge of guilt wash through him. This wasn’t easy on her. She thought they were done with this. Honestly, so did he but he needed to know who killed Collier and how they knew about Alex’s comment to do it. Information about who he thought he saw last night wouldn’t hurt either. Before Alex could try to comfort her Ben had already herded him out the door. 

A simple black sedan was waiting for them outside. He really shouldn’t be surprised. Really. He should just be grateful it wasn’t Crawley if he was honest. At least Ben had a sense of humor and he desperately needed that right now.

“Shouldn’t we be social distancing?” He asked innocently

“I’d prefer to be that far away from you too but we don’t have much of a choice. They’ll test us at the Bank anyways.”

Great, he definitely wanted his blood drawn today. That would make things better.

“Still would rather you wear a mask around me. For a variety of reasons.” The older spy shot him a withering look before getting into the driver's seat. He allowed himself a small smirk of victory. 

Ben managed to wait until they were down the road before he started in. 

“A murder, Alex?” 

“I didn’t do it.”

“Obviously or I wouldn’t be the one here picking you up.” The man said dryly “But you did something to make them suspect you.” 

“I was just messing with some friends. It wasn’t anything serious.”

“Murder isn’t something to mess around with.”

“I know that,  _ Ben _ .” He bit out “I’m intimately acquainted with it thanks to  _ your _ employers.”

“Our”

“I don’t work for MI6.”

“But you were in Australia…”

“With ASIS.”

“You work for ASIS?”

That would be confusing, he supposed, but he didn’t feel like explaining that he had been blackmailed and Ben had been shot for him so lying to him wasn’t very appealing either “Look, it’s complicated and classified. Can we move on to why I’m being dragged to the Bank if they know I didn’t do it.”

“Well, the fact that you dropped off our network for four hours last night around the time the murder took place might be part of their issue.”

Yeah, he supposed that would do it. How had they known? He had left his ‘6 phone behind and had taken his SIM card out of his personal phone so it couldn’t be tracked. Maybe that was it? Jones had said they were done with him, though. Obviously not. Or at least they were still watching and he didn’t know how he felt about that. Alex had made enough enemies to not turn down the help out of childish spite but he  _ was _ afraid it came with a price. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that this wasn’t a summons for a mission. 

“Who am I seeing anyways?”

“The Director” Ben said tentatively

“Of course” he sighed, as if today couldn’t possibly get any worse. The probability of it being a mission had just gone up. Granted, he always met with Blunt but after his last talk with Jones he had been hoping it would be her. 

“You’re not worried?” 

“I always meet with him.” He shrugged

“ _ He’s _ your handler?”

Was. And even then he couldn’t really be considered a handler. It’s not like he stayed in contact with Alex or gave him the information he needed to survive the mission. “Who else would it be? I’m 15, do you think they want anyone to know that I was working for them.”

“You’re 15?!” He really should take it easy on Ben. He was driving and now he looked moments away from a heart attack. 

“I was kidding of course.” Alex tried to smooth it over 

“How old  _ are _ you?” The man demanded 

“Old enough to not want to be propositioned by you.”

“ _ Alex. _ ”

“It doesn’t matter,  _ Ben _ and, again, is probably classified. If you want more information go to my handler.” 

That wasn’t going to happen. But it made the point. They pulled into the garage a few silent minutes later. Ben rolled down the windows as two people in what looked like hazmat suits approached the car. 

“You know you should at least take me to dinner first.” He snarked as the person grabbed his arm and felt around for a vein. 

“Alex.” There was exasperation in his voice. 

“Liven up, Ben. You’re not the one who was just under investigation for murder.”

“Might still be.” Ben reminded. 

“You couldn’t take me in at your best let alone now, Daniels.” 

“Wouldn’t have to. You seem to have come along just fine.” 

And that was probably why they had sent Ben in the first place. Alex was certainly less likely to spook with a friendly face but Blunt didn’t pull his punches with Alex. Ian’s office and Jones’ apartment showed that. They may not suspect him for the murder but for them to drag him down here they obviously wanted to know what he had been doing breaking quarantine and he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell them - chasing dead men wasn’t exactly a sign of good health.

“I couldn’t resist your magnetic personality.” 

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“You mean I’m not the only boy you’ve gotten in your car?”

“ _ Alex _ .” The man hissed and the teen let out a laugh as a cotton ball was pressed into his arm and wrapped. “You know that hot red head would probably be upset to hear you talking like that.”

“That’s Jack and she’s off limits.” He narrowed his eyes. 

“Hmmm I wonder if she agree…”

“Now that she knows who you work for, definitely.” 

“I did save you before, that might even the odds.”

“I could tell her about you capturing me too and not stopping that Muay Thai fight a little earlier.” He returned casually. 

“Take a bullet for a guy and he can’t even take a knee for you.” Ben lamented. 

“You act like your life wasn’t in danger too.” 

Ben opened his mouth to reply then hesitated “Why didn’t you tell me he was your godfather?”

“Wasn’t important, besides, I had just met him a few days prior.” He didn’t particularly want to have this conversation but sitting in silence was worse since he would only dwell on why he was back here in the first place. 

“Just met him?”

“That I remember.” He shrugged “I’m sure I did when I was a baby but he moved to Australia not long after.”

“You said he killed your parents...who raised you then?” The man was obviously struggling with Alex’s family dynamics. Ben likely grew up in a normal nuclear family, viewed through that lense Alex’s life would be confusing.

“My Uncle. He worked here too, along with my Dad. Ash, the guy you shot, was my Dad’s partner until he double crossed him.” 

“Where’s your Uncle now?”

How was Ben a spy? 

How did he not know to take the the hint at “worked”? 

He did. Which meant he was prying. And not subtly. “You know the answer to that or you don’t belong in this line of work.”

“Fair.” The man nodded 

Alex decided to save the car from descending into awkward silence again “What have you been doing since I saw you last anyway?”

“Riding a desk. That’s what happens when you get shot.” He groused. 

News to Alex. After he got shot he ended up in space. And then with Ben. He doubted the man would appreciate that news anymore than he appreciated the news about his age. “How long?” 

“It was supposed to be 4-6 weeks depending on how PT went but it’s kind of taken a back burner with the virus, so probably longer.” 

PT was also news. He probably should be doing that. Not now. He didn’t want to get within 500 yards of a hospital. He wasn’t of the age that the virus would likely kill but he was sure that taking a bullet to the heart a few months ago probably wouldn’t make it easy on him. 

“Sounds like a blast.”

“I’d say I’d pay you back but if you’re out of the business then I don’t reckon I’ll have the chance.”

“I might have a different answer for you after this meeting” he muttered bitterly and Ben arched an eyebrow “Whether I’m out of the business depends on Blunt, if he wants me in, well, it’s hard to say no to him.” And he  _ really _ hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

The man nodded slowly and looked like he was about to say something else but instead they were waved through. 

All clear then. The small bubble of anxiety grew as they parked and stepped into the elevator.

Ben hit the button for the floor where Blunt’s office was “You're coming with?”

“Taking you home too, you’re not getting rid of me that easy, Rider.”

Finally, some good news. That ruled out being sent on a mission immediately. Blunt could have lied but Alex doubted he would waste his time on something like this. And no going on mission with Ben either, not with both of them injured, only Alex got sent on missions after being shot. Lucky him. He just had to answer a few questions then. They wouldn’t be easy questions but they would just be questions. He had been through worse. 

All of his earlier humor evaporated as soon as the doors opened. He always remembered the floor being a hive of activity but today it was eerily silent. Like a tomb. He stayed frozen to the spot, unable to coax himself into taking the steps forward. Ben didn’t say anything, just placed a hand on his shoulder, not with any force, just reassuringly. It was a kind gesture but the contact had jarred the still healing skin and Alex instinctively rolled away from it. 

“Burns” he responded to the man’s alarmed look, it changed to confusion but he didn’t press further. 

Alex took a deep breath and set off down the well worn path. The door to Blunt’s office was already open and he could see Mrs. Jones waiting inside as well. Just like normal. And he hated that thought.

“Thank you, Agent Daniels.” She nodded 

Alex felt a pang of disappointment when Ben returned it and shut the door behind him. His eyes instinctively found the exits and then sized them up. Nothing had changed everything was the same.it was as if the last month had never happened. 

Blunt waited a beat before starting “I’m sure you know why you’re here, Alex.” 

“I didn’t do it.”

“We are aware.” It was a relief to have that confirmed. “Mr. Collier was a gambler who was in the red to the Clearwater Syndicate for £500,000. It could have been them. Burglaries have been the go to assassination method since quarantine started so it isn’t unusual but it is coincidental. We don’t believe in coincidences here, not without confirmation.” 

After the last year, Alex didn’t either. “You think one of my enemies did it.”

“Your enemies likely would have done a better job at framing you.” Blunt pointed out 

Jones picked up after him “Which is why we think it may just have been bad timing except you went off the grid last night, we followed you through the cameras...”

Maybe he had lost his touch, he had done his best to avoid them. 

Jones seemed to sense his thoughts “You did well but a boy your age in London at night is still noticeable. You were following someone but we couldn’t make them out which means they were trained and knew where our cameras were. What did you see?” 

Should he tell them? Blunt and Jones knowing the specific threat wouldn’t change anything except to get him used to catch Yassen and he wanted to stay far away from MI6 “I saw someone walk by twice. They looked familiar.”

“Familiar how?” She interrupted 

“I thought I recognized him but I couldn’t tell for sure. I never got a close enough look to confirm it.”

“Who did you think it was?”

“Someone from Malagosto.” It wasn’t  _ technically _ a lie.

“Most of your classmates have been captured or killed but Klaus is still active and he shares enough similarities with the glimpses we got of the man.” Jones filled in thoughtfully and Alex mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Then hesitated. Jones would never offer an out like that. Especially not if they were actually looking for information from him. Something more was going on. 

“Then the killing was revenge?”

“Possibly. The timing is still suspicious. Your computer should not have been so easily compromised.” Unusual that. Smithers and 6 should have been too good for that. Should have. He didn’t like where this was headed. “We’ll have a team out to up the security on your house just in case. You’ll get new electronics too. For now try to stay off anything.” 

He had been hoping for an excuse to see Smithers and his disappointment must have shown. “Perhaps another time, Alex.”

On second thought he would have to deal without seeing the man. He liked Smithers but he liked being alive more and if seeing the man meant getting sent on a mission he would have to pass.

“Is that it?”

“Unless there is something else you wish to share with us, yes.” 

Alex simply stood and walked to the door. There wasn’t anything he wanted to share with Alan Blunt. Ever. Except maybe the virus. He was of the age and under enough stress that it might do the world a favor and take him out. But that kind of thinking was how he got into this mess in the first place. 

“Alex?” He paused, hand on the knob and looked painfully over his shoulder 

“We’ll handle this but in the future, should you wish to use your skills, let us know so we can avoid this kind of situation, otherwise we provided you a phone for a reason.” 

He knew with cold clarity exactly what that was. A job offer. They had been watching Alex, had people listening into his conversations. Analyzing him. They’d have to be stupid to not see how much Alex was struggling with his peers. Then part of his conversation was picked up and possibly used to kill Collier and...

He needed to get out. 

Now. 

He was out of the door in a heartbeat. Ben was sitting by the elevator typing something on his phone. He looked up at Alex’s approach but didn’t say anything, just hit the call button. Alex was sure his face showed every bit of the frustration and hatred he felt. 

Was he relieved to not get sent on a mission? Yes. 

But was it only a matter of time until Blunt found an excuse? No doubt. 

And that was the worst part about this whole situation. 

He hadn’t been called here to get information about who he had been following last night. He had been called here to make a point - Blunt was still watching, knew he was struggling, could bring Alex in at any time for a mission, and worse, they hadn’t asked that of him. Just made it clear that the door was still open because they knew he would be back and they would rather him come on his own.

Maybe it had just been bad luck. Maybe someone had just hacked in - they wouldn’t have had to target Alex’s computer, any of the guys would have done and been easier. But the timing was too convenient. He had enemies, but enough to listen and wait for a month on the off chance that Alex said something stupid? That was a bit much even for SCORPIA. 

It had been MI6.

They had sent the Yassen look alike to get Alex out of the house. Knew that if there was anyone that could catch his attention it would be the dead assassin. After all, Alex had survived a shot to the chest why couldn’t he? And it was all the more effective because if there was even a  _ chance _ that it was Yassen he would  _ never _ let MI6 know. He had just proved that in their office.

Which meant they had ordered Collier dead just to make a point. Someone had seen the small amount of deliberation and took it for what it was - Alex slipping into a mindset that Alan Blunt would like very much for Alex to surrender himself to. Had decided to use Collier to emphasize just how much Alex didn’t belong in that world anymore. Had killed a man to push him back into their arms.

Then they had probably sent the video chat to the police.

Probably. 

With all the other absolutes why couldn’t he fully lay this one at Blunt’s feet?

Because it had been Tom’s face in the corner. They could have faked it but there were better choices, ones that Alex wouldn’t bother checking. And Tom was acting strange - Tom hadn’t texted him. He would have texted him with that news. It was out of character. Maybe MI6 was stopping the messages? His gut said no. There was one way to find out. He had to know for sure.

“Hey mate” Tom answered almost immediately, his voice was strained and Alex almost hung up right then. 

It was him. 

Instead he continued. Rip the bandaid off. No doubts. “Hey, why didn’t you tell me about Collier?”

“Didn’t want to freak you out.”

I bet. 

“Bad bit of luck there.” He paused for effect “Someone’s at the door. Call you later?”

“Good luck, mate.” Definitely him. Alex numbly hung up and looked around. They were already in the garage. When had that happened? 

“Everything alright?” Ben asked softly and Alex almost jumped, he had forgotten about Ben.

“Honestly? No.” He said as he climbed into the car, hoping Ben would leave it there.

“Want to talk about it?” His voice was even. Alex wasn’t sure why he was surprised, he guess he had expected him to be patronizing like everyone else who saw him as a teenager but after Australia Ben probably didn’t. 

“Not really.” 

“Okay” Ben wasn’t relieved, just patient, Alex could talk but he wouldn’t try and force him. The thought occurred to him that Ben may have practice, probably a sibling, younger if this was his response. The car slipped into an easy silence but Alex couldn’t handle that right now. His thoughts would only take him to Blunt or Tom or worse, Jack, who he still had to deal with.

“Do you have siblings?” He blurted out.

“Yeah” Ben was slightly startled “younger sister, what gave me away?”

Ian had used to ask him that all the time. At the time he hadn’t recognized it for what it was - spy lessons. Once he started going on missions he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. The skills he learned had saved his life but he wouldn’t be there in the first place without them. The familiarity relaxed him now. “You weren't relieved like someone who was just trying to do their job and didn’t want to listen to a teen prattle on about their problems, your tone had a note of caring which could have been faked but you weren’t pushy like an only child, younger sibling, or someone looking for information might be. You were patient.”

“It could be a long con” Ben suggested disarmingly with just a hint of humor to see if Alex would take the bait.

“You’re not that good yet.” Alex returned, the words were joking but there was more than a little gratefulness in his tone 

“Yet?”

“You’re still a newbie.”

“I started around the same time as you.” The man pointed out “I hope.”

“You did.” there was no sense in sending a spy to SAS training. Unless that spy was Alex. “Assuming you joined after Beacons.” He finished lamely

“Yeah, pulled me right out of Selection said I was binned and off I went to training.” 

He wanted to ask what MI6 training looked like but knew it would only bring more questions. “Do you keep up with them?”

“Who?”

“Wolf, Snake, and Eagle?”

“We were just a training unit. Didn’t have much cause for swapping numbers. You?” Ben asked casually then winced. 

Yeah it was a stupid question but Alex actually could answer it. Did he want to tell him about Wolf? No. It would just open the door to other questions “All of you hated me.” 

“We didn’t  _ hate _ you.” Alex shot him a look “Alright so Wolf did but the rest of us...we were under a lot of stress. We’d all worked really hard to get there and even you have to admit having a kid thrown into the mix was unusual. We thought they sent you to get us binned. Which was stupid. There are easier ways to do that without putting a kid through Selection.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair “We weren’t great and I’m sorry about that, but we did our best.”

An apology was more than Alex could have asked for “I get it. Wasn’t the easiest time for me either and I probably didn’t help things.”

“You were a kid in SAS selection, even without anything else you had every right to bitch and moan but you didn’t.”  _ And I respected you for that _ wasn’t said but Alex heard it loud and clear.

“Just glad I made it out before jungle training.” He murmured. He had done his research later on to see just what he had been thrown into. It raised his opinion of himself but he had also only survived two weeks so no real bragging rights.

“Me too” Ben smiled “wasn’t looking forward to Snake bitching at us about cleaning our feet.”

“You shouldn’t cuss in front of a kid.”

“Don’t know if you are one, you wouldn’t tell me remember?” He teased without any real edge. That meant Ben suspected he already knew. 

He was being more open than any spy had any right to be, Alex supposed he could return the favor. “I did. You just didn’t like the answer.”

“Damn.” He whispered “I was really hoping you weren’t going to say that.”

Alex shrugged “Does it change anything?”

Ben took a moment to consider that “Not really, other than you’re scary good for your age.” 

Ben was lying. It changed a lot. Just the way the man’s demeanor had shifted told him that. But they were already turning onto his street and he probably hoped that Alex was out of all of this. That he wouldn’t see him again for a few years at the very least. He was wrong that meeting had said as much. But Ben didn’t need to know that.

The car fell into silence and Alex used the time to prepare for dealing with a very angry and very emotional Jack. She would be pissed - first the cops and then MI6. He didn’t even want to remember the doubt he saw flash through her eyes, the moment where she considered that he  _ had _ done it. Tom had obviously felt the same way if he had gone to the police. It all  _ hurt  _ and he didn’t want to deal with any of it right now. Not with Blunt playing games too. 

They pulled silently up at the door and Alex unbuckled and grabbed the handle but stopped at Ben’s voice “Can I…” he turned back, “can...look can you take my number down?” Alex stared at him wide eyed. “Not like that. Just...if you need to talk or want to grab coffee or something. I’m stuck riding a desk, I wouldn’t mind a distraction.”

It was a trap. Blunt had planned this all along. Ben was a spy. But he should be smoother than this.  _ Was _ smoother. Which meant this wasn’t Agent Daniels. This was Ben. Had been Ben the whole time. But after all of the emotions today - fear, anger, betrayal, hurt - someone offering him the smallest bit of kindness was almost enough to break him. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Yeah...yeah I’d like that.”

Ben smiled and waited for Alex to pull his phone out then gave him his number. 

Alex hesitated when he went to put his contact information in “Ben  _ is _ your real name, right?”

“Yeah, Alex is yours?”

“Yeah,” they shared a smile at the absurdity of the conversation. “Thanks. For everything”

“Anytime.” He nodded and Alex got out before it could get anymore awkward. He noticed the man waited until he was inside before he drove off. Maybe it was orders, but Alex doubted it. He didn’t have much more time to dwell on it when he was greeted by Jack, standing arms crossed, waiting for him in the living room. She was visibly relieved to see him back but she was also visibly angry. He supposed he deserved this in a roundabout sort of way. He took a seat on the couch. If they were going to fight he may as well be comfortable. 

“They’re not sending me on a mission.” He started, hoping that the news would calm her a little. 

She nodded stiffly but more was coming “Alex, I don’t even know where to start.” She said despairingly “Why would you say something like that?” Say something? Right. She was back at the beginning, the Zoom call. 

“It was just a joke, Jack, I was just trying to fit in, the other guys…”

“Don’t ‘the other guys’ me, Alex Rider! You know better, Ian raised you better!”

That was a low blow, which meant Jack was  _ really _ upset. Having the MI6 back at their doorstep would do it. The police didn’t help either.

“And since when do you just go along with the crowd?!”

_ Since I lost all of my friends because MI6 had me on almost non stop missions for a year.  _ He didn’t say that, though, it would just rile her up more. 

How to act? 

A normal teen would yell back but she expected him to be more mature and he was. Good, he didn’t feel like much of a row right now. “I know, I shouldn’t have done it, Jack. I’m sorry.” He said softly, pointedly ignoring the fact that he had to run through his actions like he was undercover with her too.

“Was it them? Did they have you…” she trailed off unable to finish her thought but Alex couldn’t finish it for her either. 

“Was it who?”

“MI6, last night did they ask you to…”

Right. She thought he was at the Bank last night. Thought that they had ordered him to kill Collier. And worse, she obviously believed he was capable of it. 

“No. One of my old enemies was spotted in London. They thought he might strike against me and wanted to bring me up to speed on the threat. Turns out they were right but none of us could have predicted this.”

She obviously didn’t believe him. He didn’t blame her. Blunt had never wanted to ‘bring him up to speed’ before but there was no other feasible explanation for him to give. “ _ You _ obviously predicted it.” She snapped.

And _ of course _ she twisted the knife because when Jack was mad she wanted him to hurt like she did and she didn’t care what she used to do it. “I didn’t. We think they were watching my communications and tried to frame me.” 

“None of this would have been a problem if you hadn’t said any of that.” 

He couldn’t bring himself to disagree. “I said I was sorry, Jack, I don’t know what else to say.”

“I don’t either, Alex! I thought we were past this! I thought you wanted out of that life but here you are meeting with MI6 at night without telling me and then all of this happens with your teacher and I just don’t know what to do with you anymore!” She was hysterical, there were tears in her eyes and he hated that he put her through this, even if he hadn’t meant to. She didn’t deserve this. 

“I didn’t want to meet with them, Jack. I don’t want that life back. I want to be normal…”

She cut him off “If you want to be normal then why are you on Zoom planning murders!” In any other conversation it could have been a punch line. Here, it was an indictment 

“We were all joking about it. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“You obviously thought it through, Alex. I could tell. You didn’t jump right out there with it, you  _ thought _ about it.” 

She wasn’t wrong. He wanted to deny it but he couldn’t. She knew that, the anger drained out of her face, replaced with bone deep exhaustion and disappointment. 

“You used to be such a nice boy.” She said softly. “But sometimes I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore.” 

He flinched as the words hit him like a slap. A slap would have been kinder. Anything other than  _ that _ . Then she was gone. Up the stairs to her room if the slamming door was any indication. 

He buried his head in his hands. How had it all gone so wrong? He just wanted to fit in. He had made a joke...but he hadn’t. He had planned a hit, even if it was without malice it was the fact that his first instinct had been to think it through. That was why she was upset. Because as much as Alex  _ said _ he wanted out of MI6, and he really  _ did,  _ he was still stuck in the mindset of a spy and she didn’t even know just how right she was. She couldn’t hear the commentary running through his head whenever he planned on how to interact with her or Tom or anyone else. The only time he hadn’t been thinking through his cover was when he had been with Ben and Jones and Blunt. That thought  _ terrified _ him. 

He needed out. A walk. Anything. He didn’t even grab his jacket, just taking off out the door and pulling his phone out as he went. 

Ben picked up on the first ring “Alex? Everything alright?”

No. 

“Yeah, you still up for that coffee?”

Ben must have heard just how  _ not _ alright things were because he could hear someone honking. “Yeah, where do you want me to pick you up at?”

He hesitated “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“The paperwork isn’t going anywhere.”

“I can just meet you there if that’d be easier.”

“Alex, it’s quarantine, you’re only supposed to be out if it’s essential.” 

And a kid walking around alone would not be seen that way. It hadn’t stopped him last night.

“I’m not helpless, Ben, I can fit in, besides rescues are essential services.” He joked

“Why don’t you leave the rescuing to me for now? I’ll be back at your house in 5.”

“No!” Alex said before he could catch himself “no, um do you know where the park is near here?”

“Yeah, we passed it along the way. Are you  _ sure _ you’re okay?”

“I am, just...just family stuff.” He hadn’t wanted to tell him that. Had just needed to be with someone right now. But it was too late. 

He braced himself for insincere sympathy but he never got it. “Been there before. I’ll meet you at the park. We could take a walk, always helped me to get out some energy after a family row.”

He breathed a sigh of relief “Thanks, Ben.”

“No problem. Be there in 5 by the gate. Don’t set anything on fire.” 

“No promises.” He smiled and hung up. 

He didn’t think he was capable of smiling today. Had no right to, honestly. Everything had fallen apart - Jack hated him, Tom thought he was a murderer, and Blunt had killed someone in a twisted recruiting pitch. But Ian had always taught him to look for the helpers and he just might have found one. 

**There it is. The angsty Ben/Alex partnership origin fic you never you wanted. I didn’t even know I wanted it until after I deleted 4000 words of Yassen recruiting Alex for his newest employer. Which is probably for the best since there are definitely better ones out there.**


End file.
